Hanley Ramirez homers, injured as Dodgers beat Rockies

Jun. 18, 2014
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The Associated Press

by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Hanley Ramirez homered before leaving with a hand injury, and Zack Greinke pitched the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.

Matt Kemp also went deep and Carlos Triunfel hit his first major league home run after replacing Ramirez. Greinke (9-3) threw a season-high 117 pitches over six innings, allowing a run and three hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

The right-hander tied St. Louis' Adam Wainwright and Cincinnati's Alfredo Simon for the NL lead in wins.

Ramirez, a three-time All-Star shortstop and the 2009 NL batting champion, left in the seventh with a bruised ring finger on his right hand after Corey Dickerson's hard grounder to him deflected into short center field for an RBI double that trimmed the Dodgers' lead to 3-2.

X-rays on Ramirez's throwing hand were negative.

Triunfel took over at shortstop and reliever J.P. Howell gave way to Brandon League. The Rockies loaded the bases, but League retired Wilin Rosario on a grounder to third.

Triunfel provided an insurance run against Tommy Kahnle with a towering drive that landed in the lower seats in the left-field corner. Brian Wilson pitched a scoreless eighth and Kenley Jansen got three outs for his 20th save, the third straight season that the former catcher has reached that figure.

Jhoulys Chacin (1-5) gave up three runs, seven hits and three walks in six innings. The right-hander was coming off a 10-3 victory against Atlanta in which he held the Braves to two hits over seven scoreless innings.

Eleven members of the Los Angeles Kings escorted the Stanley Cup to Dodger Stadium for a pregame ceremony, four days after they won their second NHL championship in three years. The Dodgers posed with them for a group photo, then showed off their own "power play" as Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the third and Kemp led off the fourth with his seventh of the season.

Greinke also received some defensive help. Rookie third baseman Miguel Rojas robbed Dickerson in the third with a skidding backhanded stop of his shot down the line and got the force at second on Charlie Blackmon. Right fielder Yasiel Puig took away a potential bloop single from Rosario in the fourth with a diving grab after a long run.

Greinke got through the first unscathed after giving up one-out singles by Dickerson and Troy Tulowitzki. The Rockies loaded the bases with none out in the sixth, but all they got was a sacrifice fly from Rosario as Greinke came back to strike out Ryan Wheeler and retire DJ LeMahieu with the potential tying runs in scoring position.

NOTES: Conn Smythe Trophy winner Justin Williams and his now clean-shaven Kings teammates took batting practice, fielded grounders and shagged flies. Each player threw a ceremonial first pitch simultaneously to a corresponding Dodger. After that, Kings defenseman Willie Mitchell carried the Cup over to the Rockies' dugout, where he posed with the Canadian-born Morneau. ... Rockies RHP Nick Masset began serving the three-game suspension he received from Major League Baseball on Tuesday for throwing at Atlanta catcher Evan Gattis last Thursday. Masset also was fined an undisclosed amount. ... The Dodgers signed their first-round draft pick, RHP Grant Holmes, the 22nd overall selection out of Conway High School in South Carolina. He got a $2.5 million signing bonus. ... Ramirez came in 0 for 9 against Chacin, who had allowed four homers in 45 2-3 innings over his eight previous starts this season.

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